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Issue 114
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5109 Kali Era, Sarvajit
Year, Jyesta/Ashada
month
2065
Vikramarka Era, Sarvajit
Year, Jyesta/Ashada
month
1929
Salivahana
Era, Sarvajit
Year, Jyesta/Ashada
month
2007 AD, June
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Contents
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Home
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More Links
Vedah
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Diet and Exercise
Vitamin
D
Vitamin D cuts the risk of several types of cancer by 60 percent overall
for older women in a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
The new research suggests that vitamin D may be a powerful cancer preventive
and most people should get more of it. Experts remain split, though, on how
much to take. The skin makes vitamin D when exposed to sunlight's ultraviolet
rays. However, skin cancer is a danger associated with sun exposure. More
than 2,000 units of vitamin D supplement is viewed in the American Cancer
Society guidelines as potentially dangerous.
Sun exposure in childhood could be a good predictor of whether a person will
develop melanoma later in life. New findings from a study of melanoma patients
in the United States and Australia suggest that overall sun exposure in childhood
and early adulthood, not just sunburns, is associated with the risk of developing
the deadly skin cancer. To prevent skin cancer, the researchers recommend
checking the local UV index to decide when to avoid sun exposure, particularly
during peak UV hours of between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. They also recommend applying
sunscreen half an hour before going outside; being sure to apply enough sunscreen;
applying higher-SPF formulations; and looking for products with the ingredient
Helioplex, which may provide more protection from UVA rays. Most sunscreens
protect mainly against UVB radiation. Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration
expects to issue new proposed rules for sunscreen labels, which will feature
ratings for UVB and UVA protection.
Cauliflower
A new study published in the International Journal of Cancer indicates that
people who eat broccoli, cauliflower or other cruciferous vegetables had
a 29 percent less chance of getting bladder cancer than people who consumed
the lowest amount. The active ingredient that cauliflower contains is isothiocyanates
or ITCs. They found that the ITCs were a de-toxicant which encouraged abnormal
cells to commit suicide and normal cells to develop particularly well. Further
investigations using animals revealed that ITCs could work as a prevention
to tumor growth and possibly reduce the risk of getting colon and lower lung
cancer.
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Miscellaneous
Obesity is Obesity, What's
in a Name?
Doctors ought to quit using fuzzy terms to define children's weight problems
and instead refer to truly fat kids as overweight or obese, a committee of
medical experts recommended. Less blunt terms used by the government and
many doctors diplomatically avoid the term "obese." Instead, they refer to
children many would consider too fat as being "at risk for overweight," and
overweight" for those others would consider obese. Those categories
don't adequately define the hefty problem, according to the group, which
was convened by the American Medical Association and funded by federal health
officials including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The nonbinding recommendations are designed as guidelines for pediatricians
and other medical professionals who work with children.
About 17 percent of U.S. children are obese and one-third are overweight,
using the committee's recommended definitions. Those numbers are rising,
putting children at risk for diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol problems
and other ailments more commonly found in adults.
The obese category -- the CDC's "overweight" -- is kids with a body-mass
index in the 95th percentile or higher, or above 30. The overweight category,
the CDC's "at risk", refers to children with a BMI between the 85th and 94th
percentiles. The committee's definition for overweight doesn't include a
specific BMI but BMIs between 25 and 29 generally are considered overweight
for adults. To some extent, the fuzzier labels let pediatricians "off the
hook," allowing them to avoid counseling patients who clearly need to lose
weight.
The recommendations were posted on the AMA's Web site last week, and have
been endorsed by several organizations including the American Academy of
Pediatrics, the American Dietetic Association, the American Academy of Child
and Adolescent Psychiatry and the American College of Preventive Medicine.
New Jersey's health department is escalating the battle against the bulge
by starting a new Office of Nutrition and Fitness to better coordinate programs
aimed at preventing obesity. The agency is particularly needed in New Jersey
-- possibly the first state to create such a government body. The Garden
State has the highest percentage of overweight and obese children under age
5, at 17.7 percent, according to a 2004 survey by the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. New Jersey also has many black and Latino youth,
who are more likely to be overweight than white kids.
Healthy Behavior Saves
as Many Lives
Healthy behavior saves as many lives as expensive treatments. Quitting smoking,
lowering blood pressure and reducing other health risks have prevented as
many heart disease deaths over the past 20 years as costly high-tech treatments,
a study shows in New England Journal of Medicine. It's the first to gauge
the effect of such powerful new treatment methods as cholesterol-lowering
drugs and angioplasty, which allows doctors to open clogged arteries from
within by inflating a small balloon.
Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the USA, killing about
a million people a year. But over the past two decades, death rates have
dropped from 543 per 100,000 to 267 per 100,000 among men and from 263 per
100,000 to 134 per 100,000 for women. This is largely due to changes in behavior
and expensive treatments. They found that even the newest and most potent
treatments proved no more powerful than prevention. Treatment accounted for
just 45% of the deaths that were averted.
Hookah is as Dangerous
as Cigarette
Smoking tobacco through a water pipe, or hookah, could be as dangerous as
smoking cigarettes. That's the new warning from the World Health Organization,
which said that not only does preliminary research show the same dangers
from hookah smoking as cigarettes, but that the pipes could pose unique health
risks. A smoker can inhale more than 100 times more smoke during a hookah
session than from in a single cigarette, the WHO said. In its advisory note,
the WHO added that smoke from a water pipe contains toxins known to cause
lung cancer, heart disease and other diseases. And it appears that hookahs
create the same risks from secondhand smoke as cigarettes. The organization
said more research was needed to look at the links between water pipes and
a number of fatal illnesses.
Stem Cells
Doctors in Italy used stem cells to reconstruct vaginas for two patients
suffering from rare malformations. The vaginal tissue was grown using stem
cells from the patients' own bodies.
WHO Advises
Air Travelers
The World Health Organization recommended that passengers on long flights
exercise their legs and resist taking sleeping pills to reduce the risk of
potentially fatal blood clots. Although the danger of developing deep vein
thrombosis -- normally in the form of a blood clot in the calves -- is small,
it increases if people are immobile for long periods in cramped conditions,
the U.N. agency said in a report. Some people are also predisposed to the
condition for genetic or lifestyle reasons. WHO based its recommendations
on research done by scientists in Britain, Switzerland and the Netherlands
after the death in 2000 of a British woman after a long flight from Australia.
Transmigration
Genetic material is the soul of life. A scientific team led by genomic
pioneer Craig Venter has taken an organism and turned it into a different
species in what's being billed as the world's first genome transplant - transmigration.
Dr. Venter explained on NPR that the technique is a simple ion of one microbe
into the other through transfer of genetic material, but not creating any
new form of life. However, it involves complex technical problems involving
manipulation of restriction enzymes that protect organisms from foreign DNA
overtaking the organism. Dr. Venter is looking to create new biofuels that
would replace the oil and gas in use today without damaging the environment.
Kidneys
and Hearts
Surprising new research shows kidney disease somehow speeds up heart disease
well before it has ravaged the kidneys. Doctors have finally proven
that heart disease can trigger kidney destruction, too. The work, from
two studies involving over 50,000 patients, promises to boost efforts to
diagnose simmering kidney disease earlier. All it takes are urine and blood
tests that cost less than $25, something proponents want to become as routine
as cholesterol checks.
Anyone with kidney risk factors - a relative with kidney disease, or someone
with diabetes, high blood pressure or a relative with either - should get
their GFR tested, advises Dr. Leslie Spry of the National Kidney Foundation.
McCullough goes further, and says every adult should know that number. Surveys
suggest such routine screening even of the high-risk is rare today.
A normal GFR is 120. If it slips below 60, they have kidney disease.
Fewer than a third of CKD patients are prescribed pills proven to protect
their damaged kidneys from getting worse -- pills such as ACE inhibitors
or "angiotensin II receptor blockers" that also lower blood pressure and
thus are good for the heart, too.
Roller-shoes
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission this week reported that the wheeled
shoes were the culprit in some 1,600 emergency room visits last year, most
of which involved children. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons
has also issued a warning on the shoes and recommended helmets, wrist protectors,
and knee and elbow pads for kids who wear them.
American Sexual Activity
and Drug Use
A new nationwide survey, using high-tech methods to solicit candid answers
on sexual activity and illegal drug use, finds that 25 percent of American
women and 17 percent of men reporting having no more than one partner of
the other sex in their lifetime. 29 percent of men report having 15
or more female sexual partners in a lifetime, while 9 percent of women report
having sex with 15 or more men. The median number of lifetime female sexual
partners for men was seven; the median number of male partners for women
was four. The survey is based on data collected from 1999 to 2002 for
the National Center for Health Statistics, a branch of the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.
Sixteen percent of adults first had sex before age 15, while 15 percent abstained
from sex until at least age 21. Six percent of blacks abstained from sex
until age 21 or older, while 17 percent Mexican-Americans and 15 percent
non-Hispanic whites abstained from sex until age 21 or older. Seventeen percent
of men and 10 percent of women reported having two or more sexual partners
in the past year.
Twenty-six percent of men and 17 percent of women have tried cocaine or other
street drugs (not including marijuana) at some time in their life. Seven
percent of men and 4 percent of women had done so within the past 12 months.
Non-Hispanic whites had a higher percentage of ever using cocaine or street
drugs (23.5 percent) than blacks (18 percent) or Mexican-Americans (16 percent).
World’s
Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrities
http://goveg.com/feat/sexiestveg2007/index.asp
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Recipes
Vegan
Apple Pie
INGREDIENTS: 4-5 Granny Smith apples, cored and thinly sliced, 1/3 cup margarine,
softened, 1/3 cup packed brown sugar, 1 tbsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp grated
nutmeg, 1 pre-made 9 inch pie crust.
PREPARATION: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Places the apples in the crust.
Dot with hald the margarine. Stir the rest of the margarine into the brown
sugar and spices and crumble this mixture on top of the apples. Bake for
45 to 50 minutes, or until apples are very soft when pierced with a knife.
http://vegetarian.about.com/od/desertrecipes/r/ApplePieRecipe.htm?nl=1
Vegetarian and Vegan Chili Recipes:
http://vegetarian.about.com/od/vegetarianchilirecipes/Vegetarian_and_Vegan_Chili_Recipes.htm?nl=1.
Grilling for both vegetarians and non-vegetarians
When cooking meat along with vegetarian items, you should know that many
vegetarians would prefer not to have any meat remnants touch their food.
For this reason, its a good idea to thoroughly clean and scrape your grill
after cooking any meat and before placing vegetarian items on the grill.
The best alternative is to designate a separate section of the grill for
vegetarian items, and make sure that this section is well cleaned before
firing up the grill. If possible, many vegetarians would prefer to have their
food cooked on a separate grill. Check in with your vegetarian guests before
the day of your big barbecue and see which option they would prefer. Visit
for more: http://vegetarian.about.com/od/cookingtipstools/qt/vegbbq.htm?nl=1
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Notice: This material
contains only general descriptions and is not a solicitation
to sell any insurance product or security, nor is it intended
as any financial, tax, medical or health care advice. For information
about specific needs or situations, contact your financial, tax
agent or physician.
Back to the Top
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Source:
The primary sources cited
above, New York Times (NYT),
Washington Post (WP), Mercury News,
Bayarea.com, Chicago Tribune, USA Today,
Intellihealthnews, Deccan Chronicle
(DC), the Hindu, Hindustan Times,
Times of India, AP, Reuters, AFP, womenfitness.net,
about.com
etc.
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